Making Playgrounds More Challenging

Nov. 19, 2012 7:48 p.m. ET

Increasingly, playground planners and manufacturers are designing equipment and play spaces that introduce greater risk, or at least a perception of risk, to encourage physical activity. Here, Neptune Park, a city-owned facility in Saratoga Springs, Utah.
Bob Ross/PlaySpace Designs…

The 30-foot-high pyramid made of climbing nets, center, was installed in March at Neptune Park. Dozens of children at a time are able to clamber to the top, putting their skill and strength to the test.
Bob Ross/PlaySpace Designs…

Children played at Woodland Discovery playground, located in Shelby Farms Park in Memphis, Tenn.
Shelby Farms Park Conservancy…

In 2010, the playground introduced a teeter totter swing where kids sit or stand and bounce one another up or down.
Shelby Farms Park Conservancy…

A girl played at the Woodland Discovery playground.
Shelby Farms Park Conservancy…

Fighting obesity and increasing upper body strength were big factors that went into planning the Esplanade Playspace in Boston, which features a 65-foot zip line, a manufactured rock-climbing structure, and a 20-foot-high climbing net.
Margie Salt/Park Street Playgrounds…

'One big point to get this built was childhood obesity and the fact that the kids, the third- and fourth-grade kids, had all failed the Presidential Fitness exam,' says Christopher Egan, a father of five and board member of the Friends of the Esplanade Playspace, which raised money to open the state-owned playground last year. The playground is designed to attract older children.
Margie Salt/Park Street Playgrounds…

Playground manufacturer Kompan's ICON line of equipment leverages youths' attraction to video games to encourage physical activity. Here at Reunion Trials Park in Henderson, Nev., playground pieces keep score as kids run, climb, jump, spin and balance. Some games require competing against one another, while others require them to work together.
Bob Ross/Playspace Designs…

Children played at Reunion Trails Park.
Bob Ross of Playspace Designs…

An aerial shot of a playground at Pier 6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park in the Brooklyn borough of New York. The playground's tall slides, unique swings and sand and water play make it a destination.
Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc.…